Chapter 1.14: Conquer Yourselves
As Khalid searches for Nathaniel, he finds him on the rooftop of an abandoned building waiting for Khalid to appear for the final showdown. Before the two engage in combat, Nathaniel reminisces over the past and comes to the conclusion that Khalid is truly no different from the pseudo who serve him. Khalid then asks what Nathaniel meant by that and retorts saying that he's nothing like the pseudo and is the "real deal." Nathaniel then states that he's been observing how Khalid ran the Mubarak throughout the years, and states that everything about Khalid is "fake." He goes on to explain that back in their glory days, Khalid always came of as insincere with his peers -which is why Khalid often backstabbed them, or they ended up leaving him behind for some strange reason. Nathaniel continues reminiscing when Khalid was once a member of JSA, he didn't just betray his teammates and the people, he himself swore to protect, but his own partner in the end. Nathaniel then asks Khalid how could he have the nerve to push her (Nephthys) aside, when things seemed to go his way -after everything the artificial maiden did for him. Nathaniel continues on by saying if that wasn't enough, Khalid even went as far as to mind control the masses using the power of ancient artifacts, in a (sad) effort to gain some form of power and control. Yet in the end, all Khalid achieved was a fake power to make him seem big and bad in the eyes of the people. But at the same time, Khalid knew from the bottom of his heart that he’d be nothing more than a worthless criminal without Nephthys' power. Nathaniel then exacerbates the issue by telling Khalid to just simply face it and that he's been living a complete and utter lie his entire life, and that he's been trying his best to make it seem like he was so perfect and omnipotent. But in the end, it was all just a gigantic act of pretentiousness to help boost his self-esteem issues. Afterwards, Nathaniel just simply asks Khalid the question, "Who are you?” as Khalid stands silently with a loss of words. “I am Khalid Mubarak," he then replied, "The one who’ll assassinate you and get my reward.” “With that accomplished, I will finally gain my own identity and I’ll be much more than a pseudo!” Nathaniel then shakes his head saying, “I pity this sad fool, now I finally understand why you've become a dark pseudo.” Elsewhere, the three groups all eventually make it to the same place. As they all discuss their individual stories, Christine tells them all the important news about Khalid. The group deducts that it was just better dispose of Khalid, rather than let him live and still have to deal with his army. Half said yes to slay him and another half were against it. While the group came to an indecisive choice, figures that appear like pseudo came before them. As the group was getting ready to fight, these (oracle) pseudo begged JSA not to hurt them and explain that they've come to heal them. This came off as very odd to JSA, because these pseudo bared striking resemblances to normal girls, and posed no threat whatsoever. Ike asks the pseudo why they all were doing this and that he thought the pseudo saw JSA as the enemy. This group replied that not all pseudo were like that, and that they the oracle pseudo only take orders from Nephthys, and all she wants to do is put an end to all this senseless fighting. And to help do that, they took it upon themselves to heal everyone: JSA, military, and Mubarak indiscriminately. After JSA thanked the oracles for their help, they all continued traveling together. When the reformed group reached the other side of the city, they all ran across countless incapacitated senior members, such as Isa Sarabillo, Pacsk Law and military soldiers lying unconscious. In the distance something swiftly moved around in the dark crevices of the great piles of rubble in the area. Everyone’s nervously looking around to see what it was. Out of nowhere, the figure appeared right in the middle of the group and struck everyone with its shadow whip. Silhouette, as he once again animated JSA’s shadows and made each and everyone fight against their equivalent. The result remained the same as usual, none of their attacks worked and the fight was long and tedious. Category:Chapters